❤︎ Day 16 - 03:57 PM ❤︎

POV: Jaehee Mode

The entire 'ZFA' had received a message from Seven a few minutes ago, but when they reached the room where he'd set up his work, they were graced by the sight of their resident hacker in a total frenzy. His fingers were darting across the keyboard like miniature rockets, and even Yoosung looked a little surprised at his boyfriend's urgency. Upon noticing his friend's arrival, he stood up and the group was graced with the brightest smile ever.

"So," Seven turned the screen of his main monitor so it was facing them. "Guess who got satellite coordinates to the place where Zai's phone last called from!" On the computer was an image, obviously taken from space, of an almost invisible house located in the middle of a dense forest.

"Y-you really found her!?" Jaehee wasn't used to getting her hopes up, but at this point, she would take anything she could get if it meant she and Zen could see Zai again. "Luciel please, tell us where she is!" She could feel Zen's grip on her arm, grounding her. He was almost as tense as her, but she could tell that he was holding on to his self-control with everything he had.

"Just give me a second... There!"

"Uh, dude, not all of us can read longitude and latitude."

"What? Well, maybe you should learn! Anyways, who's coming with me?"

Jaehee felt Zen pull her forward and subsequently catch her before she fell on her face.

"Us! We have to go!" Zai was theirs, it just made sense that she and Zen should go with Seven. On the other hand, Zai was also their party planner, and it wasn't fair to the rest of them to be stuck waiting for them to return or call with news.

"W-wait, there's something else you should know before we leave..." Seven's cheerful expression quickly vanished and was replaced with a serious look.

"Can't you tell us later? We've been waiting this long-!" Jaehee tugged on his sleeve sharply before he could finish.

"Yes, we've waited this long." She tried to give him an encouraging look. "So, we can wait a few minutes longer. I want to hear what he has to say." It wouldn't do them any good to rush into things without having all the information. Seven shuffled nervously as they all took a seat. Jumin had brought V along too and was quietly explaining the situation to him. Yoosung took his customary seat right next to his boyfriend and was now doing his best to encourage Seven to talk about what was obviously something important that had to do with Zai.

"Okay so..ah.. this is harder than I thought..."

"Just say it all at once!"

"Seriously?"

"Whatever it is, it won't stop us from going to get Zai, right?" She tried to keep the nervousness out of her voice, but was finding it more difficult to do so the longer Seven went without answering them.

"Um... 'kay then. I," Seven took a deep breath, and Jaehee could see him clutching at Yoosung's hand tightly. "I received a tip from the person who hacked into the messenger before. They reduced the defenses on the closed network for an hour so I could get in, then they uh, they sent me this picture." He brought up the image of Zai asleep on an unfamiliar couch and Jaehee gasped. There was a light cracking noise coming from her side, and she was surprised to see Zen squeezing the armrests so hard that minute fractures appeared beneath where his fingers were pressed into the plastic. Jumin was speaking rapidly with V in hushed voices, but she wasn't paying attention to that right now. Zai was along with someone who was a stranger to them who might be dangerous, who might be aiming to harm her. Terror flooded her chest.

"I have reason to believe that the hacker is the same person as the one I got in this traffic cam shot last night." He brought up another photo of what looked like Zai laughing along with someone else who had their head turned. Seven locked eyes with her and Jaehee could see the tension in his face. "To be honest, I don't know what we'll find there. Whoever the hacker was, they must have wanted us to go. It might be a trap. I wasn't about to let you and Zen run in blind without knowing what's at stake." The very idea of possibly leaving their girlfriend (was Zai still their girlfriend? The thought was almost enough to make her cry.) in danger was enough of a reason for Jaehee to still want to go. They'd waited long enough.

"Luciel. We're going." She could feel Zen jump at her declaration and felt his hand slip into hers. She squeezed it in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. "Zai is...she is possibly the most important person in our lives besides each other. We'll do anything to get her back, hacker or not." She stood and Zen rose with her, the determination and hope in his gaze were mirrored in hers as well.

"She's right. Nothing is going to stop us, not when we're so close!"

"Well, you can't say I didn't try to convince you! It's about a three-hour drive, so you should get ready now. We're not going to be stopping for a while." Seven looked over at the couple still talking under their breath. "Hey, Jumin."

Lifting his head, Jumin glanced in their direction.

"Yes?"

"Can I get a ride back to my place? I gotta pick up one of my babies for the trip!" Jaehee tried to stop herself from grimacing. Apparently, the only way they were going to get to Zai was by riding in one of Seven's high-speed death traps.

"I suppose. I'll have Driver Kim come around the front."

"Thanks!" Pulling Yoosung up and out of his seat, Seven pressed a noisy kiss to his lips before dragging him out the door. "Let's go cutie!"

They could hear the undignified cries of the youngest member of their group as he was hauled away by the excitable redhead. Jaehee almost felt sorry for him. However, she was too busy worrying about Zai to pay the two of them much attention. She let Zen guide her back to their room so they could get ready for the retrieval mission while her head raced with thoughts.

"Please just hold on a little longer, Zai. We're finally coming for you."

❤︎ Day 16 - 05:22 PM ❤︎

POV: Saeran Mode

Saeyoung's presence had vanished from the system a while ago, meaning that he had found the hints that Saeran had 'graciously' given him. Namely, the satellite image of the house he'd managed to get and also the coordinates for their current location. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they arrived, but he wasn't really looking forward to it. He knew that Zai had already confirmed his place in her heart, but at the same time, it was hard to shake off the feelings of anxiety and jealousy when you were raised to believe that you didn't deserve anything. What if she decided to give him up the moment they came for her? Although, Zai's own feelings of guilt had led to her not even thinking about herself as being in a continued relationship with Zen and Jaehee. In her eyes, she didn't deserve them at all. That wasn't what he wanted.

Zai had been sleeping a lot recently. Back when he was still monitoring her progress from Mint Eye, he'd noted her as being an early riser. Her quick start that morning was unusual, but after crying in his lap for nearly half an hour, she'd fallen asleep once more. He was seriously worried about her mental state, and that was saying something considering his own mind was probably in the lowest tier in terms of stability. Zai had pushed herself to her limits both physically and emotionally over the past two weeks and that wasn't even taking into account all the things she'd been doing in her previous resets. He could speak from experience in saying that living the same days over and over was exhausting. Especially if you could never remember more than a few things that happened. Although she was awake and busy in the kitchen right now, Saeran knew that the moment they were done eating dinner, she'd wander up to their bedroom and collapse before sleeping until noon tomorrow.

Sighing, he did one last check on Zai's laptop to make sure that everything was in order before relocating himself to the kitchen, Jamming at his heels.

Dinner was a simple meal made from mixed vegetables and stir-fry chicken. Zai was absently picking at her food while Saeran occasionally slid pieces of meat off the countertop to where Jamming was waiting below. So far, she hadn't noticed him doing it even though he was making no attempts to hide it from her at all. Reaching over to rest his hand on her arm, his eyes filled with concern.

"Hey, you doing okay?" She looked at him with the most tired eyes he'd ever seen on her face.

"Saeran...do you think I'm doing the right thing?"

"What do you mean?" Facing away, she absently pulled on the rim of her sleeve.

"I mean, is it really okay for me to come back into their lives like nothing ever happened? What if they still want to be in a relationship with me? I don't know if I could handle that, I think. I still feel terrible about the whole thing with me blowing up her apartment and pretending to be dead..." She bit into a carrot and sniffled lightly. "Now they're coming here and I haven't even tried contacting them to tell them that I'm okay. I bet they all think you kidnapped me and held me hostage or something." Her words might have been funny if it were not for the seriousness of the situation at hand. Why was he so bad at comforting people?

"If it makes you feel better, I know for a fact that my brother will be with them when they arrive, and we haven't seen or heard each other in person for over a decade." A choked noise came from Zai's side of the kitchen island, and for a split second, Saeran thought he might have killed her.

"B-brother! Seven is your brother!? Why am I just now hearing this?"

"I told you about my brother four days ago. Saeyoung, remember?"

"Yeah but I didn't know that was Seven's real name! I always thought it was Luciel ever since he and Yoosung started dating!" Saeran assumed it was only fair that it was his turn to nearly die via. accidentally inhaling a piece of chicken upon hearing that statement.

"Wait, they're dating?" Zai laughed. He didn't think that he could ever get tired of that laugh.

"Now we're even. But yeah, they've been together for a while now. Or at least, I think they have. They never really confirmed it in front of me." Her words were wistful, and Saeran was once again struck by the realization that even though it had only been just over two weeks since she took up temporary residence in Rika's apartment, Zai had known the RFA for months, if not years in total. His heart ached for the girl who was willing to die and had died, for the people who believed they'd only just met her recently.

"As an answer to your first question, though, I don't think you're doing the wrong thing. Really, you're just doing something new for once. Whether or not that results in something good or bad really depends on you, doesn't it?" It wasn't really in his nature to act like this, or maybe it had been, back when he was younger, but he didn't remember it now. That didn't mean he wasn't going to do his best to help Zai, though.

"I guess you're right. Besides, it's not like I can take it back. Even if I could reset at this point, I wouldn't want to." Even as she spoke, Saeran could see her struggling to stay awake. Sliding his plate to the side, he got up to move over to her side of the island before placing one of his arms under her knees and pulling her up against his chest as his other arm cradled her back.

"Wh- what!? S-Saeran, why?" She looked panicked for a scant moment but settled back down almost immediately afterward. "Mmm...you're warm." Tamping his blush down, he started for the bedroom.

"You look like you're going to pass out at any second. I'm putting you to bed, you need rest."

"Aww, that's so sweet... Will you read me a bedtime story too?" That got a laugh out of the both of them.

"Don't push it. I'm going to put the food away." He set her down on the mattress and pressed a light kiss to her temple. "Promise me you won't stay up too late?"

"Yeah, yeah, relax momma hen." Zai sat up and began fishing around in her drawer for a set of pajamas. "Are you going to come up when you're done?" Saeran's thoughts flew back to the group that was surely approaching their residence as they were speaking, then back to the girl sitting in front of him.

"Actually, I think I might stay downstairs tonight." He tried not to think about how quickly her face fell at his response. "There's some stuff I want to check up on, but if I finish early I'll come up, okay?"

"Mmmkay... Night 'RanRan."

Saeran couldn't hide how flustered he became at the sleepy nickname, but thankfully, Zai was already half asleep and he was out the door by the time she had finished. Taking a breath to steady himself, he made his way back to the kitchen as he tried to remember where Zai hid the rope she'd used to restrain him on his first day here.

❤︎ Day 16 - 11:40 PM ❤︎

POV: 707 Mode

It's almost midnight by the time Seven, Zen, and Jaehee arrived in the city closest to the house's location. Using some of the pocket change (Just how many zeroes did you write on this check?) Jumin had given them, the trio rented a room with two beds and called it a night. They had been driving for hours and Seven was already exhausted from a short argument he'd had with Yoosung just before they left. His adorable boyfriend had wanted to come with him and had been adamant about helping before Seven reminded him that he was neither fit nor a master in judo. The dejected look on his face had made it hard for him to want to leave, but eventually, they'd packed into his sleek black sports car and headed off.

Now it was bordering on ridiculously late and all he wanted to do was sleep. Zen and Jaehee were curled around each other like a pair of lovesick squids and the sight of them only made Seven long for Yoosung even more. Sliding out the door as stealthily as possible, he exited the building and sat at the curb before pulling out his phone and dialing the familiar number.

"...Hello?" Even just hearing his voice was enough to put a smile on his face.

"Hi, cutie! What are you doing up so late?" There was a faint laugh from the other side of the line.

"Listening to you, apparently. Why aren't you asleep?"

"We got here late, so we're waiting until morning. Zen and Jaehee are being too lovey-dovey! I miss you so much!" He was whisper-shouting, and although the area was mostly empty, one or two passers-by still gave him odd looks as they crossed the street.

"Oh, well then you should get some rest! You're all going to get Zai tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, or at least try to anyway."

"...Luciel?"

"Mmm?"

"Promise me you'll stay safe. We don't know if the hacker is really dangerous or not. You could get hurt..."

"I know, but I'm sure we'll be fine. After all, Zen and Jaehee have the Defender of Justice on their side!" It wouldn't do to let Yoosung know that he was nervous about tomorrow too.

"Saeyoung..." He froze. "Just...Just come home safe to me, okay? Do your best, and bring everyone back if you can."

"Yoosung I-" Running his free hand over his face, he pressed against his eyes from beneath his glasses. "I'll try my best..."

"I guess that's all I can really ask for, then." There was a sigh, then the soft sound of a body falling back against a mound of pillows. "Have a good night, sleep well! I love you." Seven's heart skipped a beat.

"I- I love you too Yoosung." The line disconnected and he let his head fall to his knees.

He couldn't make up for what he'd done in the past, but at least this time he wouldn't run away from his failures. Zai or no Zai, he was going to do everything he could to return to his boy.